His Confession, Her Compassion
by Lady The Warrior
Summary: [SasuSaku One-Shot] He let out a deep sigh which Sakura noticed right away. A lonely smile colored her feature as she searched the man's face. What could he possibly think about at the moment? she thought and for the first time, she let go of all the fears crawling in her heart. She put the palm of her hand on Sasuke's shoulder soothingly.


_"You're such an annoyance but still there's some bizarre feeling about you that I can't understand..."_

* * *

Upon the heights of the Fire Country, two shadows were walking, rather gracefully, towards the setting sun. Sky was filled with the shades of lavender and crimson as it swallowed the shining globe deep inside its pumping heart.

Sakura gazed into the spectacular view. Wind blew in her hair locks and spread the scent of the newly born leaves around her.

Sasuke's deep black eyes, was as well fixed on the scenery. It seemed like he was looking for something there. Or maybe only the setting sun, itself, revived the unpleasant memories.

He let out a deep sigh which Sakura noticed right away. A lonely smile colored her feature as she searched the man's face. _What could he possibly think about at the moment?_ she thought and for the first time, she let go of all the fears crawling in her heart. She put the palm of her hand on Sasuke's shoulder soothingly.

Sasuke almost jumped because of the sudden feeling on her shoulder and exciting impulses ran through his nerves although as he was specialized in hiding his emotions behind a serious and cold mask, he cloaked them immediately.

"We're close." His voice sounded like a melody in Sakura's ears, combining with the symphony caused by the trapping wind in between the branches and trees.

The pink-haired girl felt her cheeks flashed a shade of red as she inched away from Sasuke and glanced at where he was claiming to be their destination.

The deep blue ink now poured over the sky above them, shadows slowly came to life.

"Where're we going anyway? " She couldn't help but to ask.

Sasuke didn't answer though he looked into Sakura's eyes for a moment, took her wrist and made her follow him down a rocky valley.

By the time they reached to the bottom, a circular area was surrounding them. All that could be seen were the high branching oaks, fencing all around them, like it was some secret territory.

Sakura's eyes widened at the unknown place, she looked around and a sight of a wreckage caught her eyes. It seemed to had been a temple or something in the past, but soon she realized what it really was.

The Uchiha's symbol on the ruined walls, told her it was possibly one of the Uchiha's hideouts. But _what had happened to it?_ She couldn't help but to ask herself.

"This is where I fought my brother … " Said Sasuke, more whispered to her, " For the last time."

Sakura glanced over at her man. His tensed face was a mixture of sadness and anger. It ached her heart to see that. She knew it was okay to feel sad but for a deeply damaged soul like Sasuke's… She just didn't want him to carry this much of a burden by himself.

Sasuke stepped closer, " Come with me… " He said nonchalantly and offered his hand for Sakura to take. Of course she was surprised a bit but she took it anyway and without a hint they passed through a few red ribbons ,more ornamenting than blocking, the entrance gates.

In the twilight of the temple, Sakura could barely see the Uchiha's symbol, carved on every wall. She was just too dazzled by the place. Sure it gave her chills a little but having Sasuke's hand wrapped around hers, it truly warmed her.

As they passed through the maze, they saw a shimmering light, glowing in a middle of a large room, that seemed to be sanctuary of some sort. There, Sakura's eyes fell upon a Katana, penetrating the thick soil.

Sasuke stopped the minute they reached to the sword. Now that they were close enough and Sakura could see a piece of red and black cloudy designed fabric and a ring, placing next to it.

That was when Sasuke knelt on the ground and bowed down his head and started talking in a respectful tone.

"Brother, forgive me for not visiting you for a while, I have no excuse… but at a time I was traveling all around the world, trying to retrieve what was lost… I asked for forgiveness in my journey of redemption. " He paused and closed his eyes, swallowing a knot in his throat, he didn't want to break into tears… not now at least.

"Some accepted me… some forgave while others… didn't. They even couldn't bare to see my sight, let alone hear my confessions… I… I know it's just the beginning of a lifetime journey. But I don't care, I do it for you, for me… I do my best to make things alright, I promise and I'm not going back on my word. "

Sakura looked at his serene face, she had never seen him so respectful, so calm, so… fragile. It was surreal for her to see Sasuke opens up to someone, even after the war, even after he came back and tried to fit in… what Sakura was witnessing right now, was beyond any other feeling he had shared before. It was so real… that seemed like this man in front of her was just a pure, innocent child all over again. Of course he was forgiven… at least in her heart… and Sakura knew… his brother had forgiven him long ago.

Sakura was tore apart from her thoughts when Sasuke stood up and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Itachi… this is the first time, I bring someone here… but she's not a stranger… " He said, looking at Sakura and although he still could maintain the facade, Sakura could see how he smiled with his eyes as they were glowing.

"This is Sakura, my previous teammate but now… closer than a friend. " He said gesturing to her, "And this is Itachi, my elder brother. "

Sakura didn't believe her own ears, _what did Sasuke address her, right now?_ _Closer than a friend?_ She didn't know if it was possible to become more redder than she always had. But she waved it away soon and bowed.

"Nice to meet you, Itachi-san. " She said, smiling.

"She never gave up on me, you know… " Sakura stunned by Sasuke's calm voice at the back of her neck. " She… just like Naruto… never gave up on trying and believing… I don't know how to make it up for both of them… but now I know for the first time in my life… I have someone… to trust… that's why I brought her here."

Then he turned her to face him. His face was still firm and serious but his eyes… Sakura was sure they showed otherwise.

"Sakura, I need to tell you something… "

"Anything…" she said bedazzled.

"Before all this… I thought I have every reason to hate. To hate my brother, to hate Konoha, to hate Naruto, to hate you… even to hate… myself. That's why I sought revenge, I wanted to hurt you and I know I have apologized for that a thousand times but still…. I think I'm not fully honest with you. " He let out a loud sigh before continuing.

"When my brother died… my life was filled with emptiness, everything seemed to be pointless back then. Revenge got me nowhere, Kakashi warned me before and I knew it deep inside that he was right. I had no way to get back to you. I had burnt all the bridges behind, I knew it was the end of the line. "

"But when I realized how Konoha was truly responsible for my family's death and my brother's pain, old wounds opened up again." He paused, stealing his eyes from her, " I thought killing Danzo would help me… it would soothe my pain but it didn't and then I saw you again… Sakura… "

Sasuke let go of her shoulders and stepped away, his figure now lost in darkness. " There was just… something about you… When you said, you would let go of anything and anyone just to be with me… I hesitated. How could she still love me? I asked myself and so I put a test on your way. I half expected you not to kill Karin still I wanted to see the truth with my own eyes, I wanted to believe once and for all that I'm just a monster that can't be loved anymore… what I never expected was that you were there to actually kill me. That was when… I lost all my hope…. I was drawn in darkness. "

"I know I have apologized before and you have forgiven me but still I can't stop but thinking of that day and wondering… what if… you accepted me, I know it's not a good excuse I was mad… I was truly a psycho back then… "

 _Silence._

It was heavy. It was breathtaking for both of them yet…

 _no denying._

Sasuke couldn't go on. There were so many words, so many confessions… but maybe it was too much for him. He had to be honest with himself, he had to be honest with Sakura, if he wanted her to accept him… but he didn't know why, it seemed like he was falling into a Genjutsu of silence, where extracting the words out of his mind seemed to be impossible.

Sakura didn't breath a word either. And so much he wanted her to break the silent, _wasn't she the one to break it anyway?_ sure she was the only one powerful enough to do that still… _No words._

"Sakura… " He forced the words out, her name should be fluently coming out of his mouth, yet he thought of himself unworthy of even calling her name.

He didn't want to lose his last chance, too. Here, in this place, it was the first and a last time he could say these words to her, yet this silence.

 _This damn, suffocating silence_ … it was a barricade between him and her.

"Sakura… All I'm trying to say is that… you were my last hope… " He vomited the words, the last of his confession, what came from his heart, what was buried in depth parts of his soul. " Somewhere deep inside I still believed in something… I believed that no matter how far I go…. Someday… everything will be alright…"

His hands formed fists at his sides, he bit his bottom lip, his tongue and closed his eyes. He wasn't the man to cry, he couldn't let the tears flow down, he couldn't scream the pains, the agonies piled up inside his heart. He was the man of silence, the man of darkness, of shadows, of night.

Now, it was different though. His sins were dragging him down, like a swamp. The more he tried to escape, the more he was drawn down. He thought as long as he runs away, the demons wouldn't reach him to hunt him down but no… he was wrong. This heart wasn't only his now… it belonged with someone else as well.

He felt wetness in the palm of his hand, his left hand, the artificial arm, was bleeding and the crimson drops were falling down on the cold ground. He looked up to see Sakura's face once again. He was shocked.

Her face was drowned in tears.

 _When did she start crying?_ _Why? Was it for him? But why? Why would she cry for him again? What kind of heart she owned?_

Before he could even realize, Sakura strode to him, took his hand and planted a soft kiss on his knuckle.

" I never let go of you… not even a moment… all I wanted back then was to feel nothing, was to kill all the feelings I had for you… but it was impossible, I couldn't… I couldn't lie to myself… I couldn't run away… I was wrong… I could never hurt you… " Her breath against his skin, gave Sasuke shivers.

"I love you Sasuke-kun and I will go through hell for you… I can never change how I really feel…" While whimpering, she threw herself into Sasuke's strong arms.

Her lips touched Sasuke's frozen ones.

And it all may seemed like a dream at first, Sasuke didn't push her away, quite the opposite even, he felt himself burning in her fire. He felt his ice breaking, he felt blooming. For the first time the young man, felt like a little boy, giving up to the flames. He closed his eyelids and revived their kiss before it fades, more demanding this time, more heating. All he wanted now was to feel her love all over himself, it was what kept him strong after all.

 _Love._

* * *

 _Hey_

 _So this was originally one of the chapters in my collection of one-shots " Dancing Leaves ", feel free to check it out, but as I liked this so much and the way it floated was kinda ... poetic, I thought how about publish it as a separate one-shot. So here it is for all SasuSaku fans out there_

 _Cheers'_


End file.
